{"id":51184,"date":"2018-03-08T05:38:57","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T12:38:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51184"},"modified":"2025-10-21T14:23:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:23:27","slug":"white-crowned-sparrows-with-and-without-the-hand-of-humans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/03\/08\/white-crowned-sparrows-with-and-without-the-hand-of-humans\/","title":{"rendered":"White Crowned Sparrows With And Without The Hand Of Humans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"White-crownedWhite-crowned Sparrow on a fence rail – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I try to take my bird photos with my subjects in natural settings and I spend a lot of time out in nature to do that but I’m realizing I need to include the “hand of humans” in my bird photos too because some species fit into the urban environment as easily as they do out in more natural areas.<\/p>\n

This White-crowned Sparrow photo was taken in January while the bird was perched on fence rail at my friends Ron and Carol’s old house so it has meaning and personal appeal to me but I also like the contrasts of the darker background, how well lit the sparrow is and the weathered paint on the fence rail.<\/p>\n

The fence could be in town, in the desert by a home, or up in the mountains near an alpine cabin.<\/p>\n

It really doesn’t matter much because the sparrow is willing to use it for a perch just as easily as it would use a branch, a rock, or a shrub. I should be just as willing to photograph the bird where I find it.<\/p>\n

\"WindblownWindblown White-crowned Sparrow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This White-crowned Sparrow<\/span><\/a> photo was taken on Antelope Island State Park last month on a breezy, chilly morning and I liked how the some of the sparrow’s feathers were sticking up because they were being blown by the wind.<\/p>\n

I like this photo because of the natural setting and colors and that it doesn’t have any visible touches from the “hand of humans”. There is also a little bit of fluff from a seed stuck on the sparrow’s bill that is hard to see at the resolution used for web presentation.<\/p>\n

I love the photos I take of birds in natural settings but I will also be working at adding more photos of birds in urban environments to my portfolio because they also have appeal.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my White-crowned Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

I realize that more people consider images of birds with man made articles like this fence as including the “hand of man” but I tend to think that is a little gender exclusive instead of inclusive so I use humans instead.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I try to take my bird photos with my subjects in natural settings and I spend a lot of time out in nature to do that but I’m realizing I need to include the “hand of mhumans” in my bird photos too because some species fit into the urban environment as easily as they do out in more natural areas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":161152,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[511,27,1022,697,26,356],"tags":[4004,834,6389,6388,4289,2135,855,4195,4327,6148,373,4256],"class_list":["post-51184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","category-white-crowned-sparrows","tag-adult","tag-fence-rail","tag-hand-of-humans","tag-natural-setting","tag-rabbitbrush","tag-seeds","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-white-crowned-sparrow","tag-windblown","tag-winter","tag-zonotrichia-leucophrys"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-windblown-mia-mcpherson-4421.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-djy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17800,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/15\/a-quartet-of-sparrow-species\/","url_meta":{"origin":51184,"position":0},"title":"Quartet of Sparrow Species","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 15, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately I've been able to photograph 4 different sparrow species between Antelope Island State Park and Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area.","rel":"","context":"In "American Tree Sparrows"","block_context":{"text":"American Tree Sparrows","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/emberzine-sparrows-allies\/american-tree-sparrows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lincoln's Sparrow on a fence rail","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/lincolns-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-2042.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/lincolns-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-2042.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/lincolns-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-2042.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/lincolns-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-2042.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15858,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/09\/19\/interior-west-white-crowned-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":51184,"position":1},"title":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Bird photography isn't easy and for smaller birds like this adult White-crowned Sparrow it can be challenging and require more patience than when photographing larger birds.","rel":"","context":"In "Beaverhead County"","block_context":{"text":"Beaverhead County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/montana\/beaverhead-county-montana\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Interior West White-crowned Sparrow perched on Western Serviceberry, Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Centennial Valley, Beaverhead County, Montana","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-crowned-sparrow-perched-mia-mcpherson-8691.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Centennial Valley of Beaverhead County, Montana. Interior West subspecies.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/white-crowned-sparrow-adult-mia-mcpherson-4767.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55107,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/24\/adult-white-crowned-sparrow-on-a-fence-with-rabbitbrush-in-the-background\/","url_meta":{"origin":51184,"position":3},"title":"Adult White-crowned Sparrow On A Fence With Rabbitbrush In The Background","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I was thinking back on brighter days this morning and decided to share this photo of an adult White-crowned Sparrow perched on a fence with the bright yellow blooms of rabbitbrush in the background.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"White-crowned Sparrow on a fence with blooming rabbitbrush in the background, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-6567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-6567.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-6567.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/white-crowned-sparrow-rabbitbrush-mia-mcpherson-6567.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":17266,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/12\/04\/juvenile-white-crowned-sparrow-on-a-december-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":51184,"position":4},"title":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a December day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A little brown bird (LBB) popped into my view today that I couldn't resist photographing and it was this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow on a December day at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah. 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